With the intentional focus of University of Memphis’ new head coach Josh Pastner now shifting to a solid foundation of Blues City recruiting, MemphisRoar has decided to delve into an on-going series featuring the best of the best within the city. To start this series, MemphisRoar had a chance to catch up with Sheffield High School’s Chris Crawford.
Crawford, a 6′4″ 190lbs upcoming senior, is currently being recruited by Georgetown, Baylor, Arkansas, Iowa, Iowa State, Ole Miss and Tennessee. Don’t let the lack of a certain school on that list fool you. Things are changing in the city of Memphis and Chris Crawford knows it.
When asked about Josh Pastner’s new “inside-out” recruiting philosophy, Crawford said, “I think its great. It would give me and my friends a chance to play in front of our families. A lot of us would love to stay in Memphis.”
In addition, Crawford said, “It makes me feel good (to know that I’ll know be higher priority). They’re a good program and I like that they would want me.”
Crawford is athletically gifted and is known as a slashing combo guard who can get to the rim with the best of them and shoot from deep. From MemphisRoar’s perspective, Crawford is a poor-man’s version of a combination between Jeremy Hunt and Chris Douglas-Roberts. He shoots well, has good handles, and has a consistently solid mid-range game. Crawford describes himself as a player who likes “to shoot the ball and get my teammates involved. I’m a little bit of a slasher, but my main skill is my ability to shoot the ball well.”
Crawford will be hitting the AAU circuit this summer with the Memphis Magic, which also features Joe Jackson, Tarik Black, Mardracus Wade and Adonis Thomas. The Magic will be headed to Little Rock to play in the upcoming Real Deal in the Rock Tournament. Playing on such a loaded team with plenty of star power, Crawford knows that he needs to work on some things this summer.
“My main focus this summer is to get better on defense. I’ll keep working on my offensive game, but to step to the next level, I need to improve my defense,” explained Crawford.
As the summer goes on and the Magic garner attention because of the other guys, expect Chris Crawford’s name to start getting a lot more pub.
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS WITH CHRIS CRAWFORD:
Q: Now that Memphis has a coach who is focused on local kids, like yourself, does that change your perspective on the Memphis program?
A: “Yeah, it does. But, it really doesn’t matter that much. I have wanted to come to Memphis anyway. They’ve always been my top choice.”
Q: Any kind of timeline on when you will cut your list or make a decision?
A: “At the beginning of my senior year.”
Q: What’s your goal for the summer?
A: “Really….its to just get better on defense. I’ve worked a lot on my offensive skills….yeah, my offensive game is doing well. I just need to step up on D.”
Q: What position do you see yourself playing in college?
A: “Point Guard/Shooting Guard….like a combo guard, I guess.”
Q: Has anyone from Memphis talked to you about how they would like to use you?
A: “When Coach Cal was here, he liked the way I played. He talked to me a lot, but I haven’t spoken directly with Coach Pastner.” (Because its a dead period)
Q: What do you think are the strengths of your game?
A: “Offensively – just getting past people, getting to the rack and finishing off shots. Defensively – I feel like I have a lot of holes in my game. I’m gonna work on that a lot.”
Q: Who is your favorite college basketball player to watch?
A: “Blake Griffin….Steph Curry….and probably Ty Lawson too.”
Q: Who is your favorite NBA player?
A: “Easy…LeBron James.”
Q: Is there any player in college or the NBA that has a game similar to yours?
A: I think probably Steph Curry….yeah, we have the same game.”
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